El Patron — Restaurant in Palm Springs

The "order at the counter" business approach is a huge mistake for this place because it cheapens the quality of the food, making the restaurant appear like a fast food joint that's less-than-interested in the guests' experience. Sadly, it turns out we were treated by 'less-than-interested' staff, but we leave this review because we're sure that the food demands more from the set-up and the staff.

The "order at the counter" setup meant that 4 people at our table received their food in 3 separate, auctioned deliveries (i.e., delivery personnel had no idea who at the table had ordered what). At a lower price point, I would not complain about such a setup, but this is a pricey venue, and pricing demands certain service expectations.

As other evaluators have commented, the music at the restaurant is too loud, so much so that it renders many of the tables unfit for a meal involving conversation. When we mentioned this upon ordering, we were laughed off by staff, even after we stated how serious we thought the problem.

So far as food presentation goes, the consumer should pay attention to menu offerings in their entirety--dishes at our table were promised chips, queso fresco, and salsa, yet were accompanied by none of these until attendants were notified. Additionally, please note that though the location features 'craft tacos', fully 75% of restaurant patrons did NOT choose the taco option. This is likely due to pricing: two street tacos for $11-13 is simply unpalatable. We have to wonder, however, whether those choices referenced relative value.

Drinks were also expensively priced. You should suspect there's an issue when the host/hostess/greeter is also the bartender, and at El Patron you wouldn't be wrong. Whereas the food is generally high quality but overly-high priced, the drinks are high-priced with low quality.

Restaurants in Palm Springs tend to come and go with greater frequency than in other places, given the seasonal nature of business here. The food at El Patron would be a fine addition to the staple Palm Springs offers, but nearly everything else the restaurant offers fails to meet the grade. We're locals, and we will not return, nor will we recommend the destination to any of our guests or visitors. We cannot believe that this bodes well for El Patron; while we like their food, we'd suggest you avoid for the reasons...

Taco Tuesdays for the win for those who spend most of their paycheck at the grocery store these days who are sick of cooking at home: The Prix fixe "soft tacos with fresh chips and half decent margarita is included special" is cheap and easy on your wallet and is a rare find in a town where the cost of eating out at even mediocre places has skyrocketed. The food here is anything but mediocre they only offer soft tacos, which I know is the healthy choice just not what I would order if fried crispy tacos were offered. I settled for the soft tacos lol which were super good and not 10000 kcal... i had carnitas tacos and the meat was delicious; crispy, not dried out and had minimal fat. Just how I like em. They make their soft tacos with thicc home made corn tortillas. It seems obvious to me that they must make the masa from fresh field corn and not from dried harina corn flour because these tasted like actual corn and not like store bought ones that always taste like cardboard. They are made in house and are A-maizeing! They even sell 'em to take home so i splurged for a dozen and made at home pan fried fatty patty crispy ones, and they turned out 10x more delicious and my waist grew .0025x wider. If anyone reads this its going to mean that Tuesdays at el Patron will probably now have a damn long line to get in, which is unfortunate. And since I'm such a giver i will publish this and endure the crowd in the hopes that people will try El Patron, like it as much as i did, and come again, trll 2 friends and so on and so on (lol) thus keeping this downtown gem successful and open for...

Wow! Ok.. this was an Oh My Gosh moment. Let’s start with the DESSERT. The Flan at El Patrón, is decadent, delectable, savory, not too sweet, mind altering, and quite frankly, too quick of an experience. The moment I began eating this flan it was gone. Along with the raspberries and raspberry sauce. 😳. Oh my. Hands down, BEST flan. The texture was amazing. Never had flan like that, and perhaps never will, unless I stumble upon the same place. 😁

The super kind, and super sweet host shared some wonderful menu choices that I could have to go. Deciding to go with something simple, and light, I chose the chicken tacos.

El Patrón chicken tacos should be offered at bomb.com, because, well, they were BOMB. The first one I added no salsa; chicken , fresh onion, fresh cilantro on an exquisite corn tortilla. The flavor of the chicken was exceptional, and noteworthy. I had to add salsa to the second taco, which provided for a whole new experience. 5 Stars is the max, but sensing their true passion for food, they deserve more. And the TORTILLA chips!! Were served beautifully alongside the salsa, which were decorated with beautiful (i know, i said beautiful twice) morsels of the white, what I’m guessing to be the Mexican cotija cheese.

Ambience is amazing. People laughing, enjoying the moment, and everyone was having a good time. What a great destination spot for Palm Springs! Can’t wait to bring...